TROUBLE BRUIN: UCLA’s Tyler Heineman is safe at first as Stony Brook’s Kevin Coutrney bobbles the ball during the Seawolves’ 9-1 loss in the opening game of the College World Series on Friday. Stony Brook faces Florida State today in a win-or-go-home game. (
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OMAHA, Neb. — Next to a gumball machine, just past where a handful of moms handed batting cage tokens to a group of pre-pubescent boys, was where the Stony Brook Seawolves prepared for their second game of the College World Series.
Because of a torrential downpour late yesterday morning, Stony Brook moved its scheduled practice at a local high school to the small baseball facility. The team was allotted three training tunnels, where fielding consisted of softly hit ground balls traveling about 60 feet on a thin carpet you could find in a friend’s old basement.
After a week in which the Seawolves received more attention than they ever could have imagined, Long Island’s newest celebrities spent the day in relative anonymity. Heading into today’s do-or-die game against Florida State, it was just what they needed.
“It’s good we’ve got some time to get away from the media and relax,” said center fielder Travis Jankowski, who was one of several players to admit the team had jitters in Friday’s 9-1 loss to UCLA. “I think it’s good to kind of get away from the ballpark and relax and get our minds set to win this next game. Now that we’ve experienced our first game here, I think we’ll be good to go.”
The meeting with the top-seeded Seminoles couldn’t contain more pressure, but the fourth-seeded Seawolves couldn’t be more used to it.
Today marks the sixth time Stony Brook (52-14) will be facing an elimination game since the NCAA Tournament began. The Seawolves haven’t lost consecutive games since March 25, with Friday’s loss just their third in the past 31 games.
“It’s good to know that when we’re down, guys aren’t going to start pressing,” said catcher Pat Cantwell, who hit a solo homer in Friday’s loss. “It’s good to know that no one’s going to panic in a pressure situation, so it’s definitely to our advantage that we’ve been down before.”
This will be Florida State’s (48-16) first elimination game of the tournament. The Seminoles handily won their first five games, averaging 10 runs per game, before losing 4-3 to Arizona in 12 innings in the Friday nightcap.
The Stony Brook season will be placed in the right hand of sophomore Brandon McNitt (8-3, 2.50 ERA), who will square off with freshman phenom Mike Compton (11-2, 2.86). McNitt is coming one of his best starts of the season after allowing three hits and no earned runs in Game 1 at LSU in the Super Regional.
McNitt said he noticed the team got too caught up with all of the attention prior to the loss. Focus was lacking. But the California native said there is no chance that will happen again.
“We’ve been in this situation before and we’ve come out on top, so we’re not too worried,” McNitt said. “I stay pretty composed the whole game. I won’t let things bother me. I just got to continue to go right after guys. Our backs are against the wall, but we’re going to keep fighting.”
Florida State will attempt to advance in its 21st College World Series appearance. Stony Brook will try to extend its first. Though the Seawolves have spent only one day in New York in nearly three weeks, they feel it’s too soon to go back home.
“This could be our last game, so we’re going to leave everything out on the field,” Jankowski said. “This team is just a bunch of fighters and scrappy ballplayers. We love each other on this team and we don’t want this season to end.”